French Defence Minister talks to his Russian counterpart for the first time since 2022

Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of Defence of France, and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu have had a phone conversation.

Source: Le Monde, citing the communiqué of the French Defence Ministry, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The conversation primarily concerned the terrorist act in the concert hall in Moscow Oblast.

Lecornu condemned the terrorist act committed on 22 March in Moscow Oblast by ISIS and expressed his solidarity with the victims and their families.

"He confirmed that France does not have any information that would allow linking Ukraine and this terrorist act. He urged Russia to stop using this attack as a political tool," the communiqué stated.

Lecornu also condemned the ongoing Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and stressed that France would continue supporting Ukraine "for as much as needed in its fight for freedom and sovereignty to bring back peace and security to the European continent".

Background:

• French President Emmanuel Macron called the claims by Russian leader Vladimir Putin's that the ISIS-Khorasan terrorists who carried out the attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow were ready to cross the border to the "Ukrainian side" cynical. He added that the same group, which claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall, made several attempted attacks in the territory of France.
• London called Russia’s claims about the involvement of the West and Ukraine in the terrorist act "utter nonsense".
• The US has also many times refuted the Kremlin’s claims about the terrorists’ ties to Ukraine.

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